American tourist with rare, fatal disease cured in Vietnam

The foreign woman, C.N., 53, had a rather complex health history, said doctors at the Viet Phap Hospital and the Viet Duc Friendship Hospital, both in Hanoi, who saved the patient from her fatal condition.

Before arriving in Vietnam, the woman was in Thailand where she suffered from feeling faint and difficult breathing. After being given first aid, she felt better and left Thailand for Vietnam to continue her tour.   

As soon as arriving in Noi Bai Airport on November 27, 2013 she was short of breath again while suffering pains in the chest.

She then came to a health facility for treatment and was transferred to the Viet Phap Hospital the same day, with initial diagnosis of suspected myocardial infarction.

However, after specific examination, doctors at the hospitals diagnosed that the woman suffered from an acute pulmonary artery obstruction.

The condition was caused by some clots of blood that had moved from veins in the left leg to the heart and then to both pulmonary arteries.  

After two days of treatment, the woman’s condition got worse and became critical, so doctors asked for assistance from specialists from the Viet Duc Friendship Hospital.

A consultation session was conducted between doctors of both hospitals and they finally decided to perform open heart surgery to remove the clots of blood from the pulmonary arteries.

The surgery was conducted at the Viet Duc Hospital in the evening of November 29th and was completed successfully after six hours, many clots of blood were removed from the lung arteries. 

First surgery of this kind in Vietnam

After the operation, the patient was put on a respirator and three days later, her condition become better and she could breathe on her own.

More than a week after the surgery, the woman can stand up, walk and feed herself.

Re-examinations of the patient’s heart and lungs showed good post-operative results.

On December 9, C.N. was transferred to Bangkok, Thailand, for further treatment before returning to the US at the request of a US insurance firm, doctors said.

Currently, the woman’s health condition is stable. 

This successful surgery is a significant success not only of the two hospitals but also of the Vietnamese health sector in general, medical experts said.   

This is a rare fatal acute disease with a very high risk of death,  said Associate Professor Dr Nguyen Huu Uoc, head of the Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery at the Viet Duc Friendship Hospital. 

Patients of the disease can die very soon if they are not treated in time.

During the past 10 years, this is the second case of this disease that has been treated successfully at the Viet Duc Hospital.

This is also the first surgery on a patient of acute pulmonary artery obstruction in Vietnam, doctors said.